GPlantS Genesis

From 1996 to 2000:

• The GPlantS Unit started as the GPlantS Lab (Genomics of Plant Stress Lab) and as a follow up of the Plant Genetic Engineering Lab of ITQB NOVA (initiated as iBET Lab, in 1996, and incorporated in ITQB in 1999).
• We started by focusing on almond (Prunus dulcis), a traditional Portuguese crop that was neglected in terms of research. For almost 20 years, our team has significantly advanced the knowledge on this species, contributing to develop biotechnological tools to identify diseases, distinguish varieties, regenerate plants in tissue culture and establish genetic transformation protocols (non-existent by then).

We could uncover molecular aspects of adventitious regeneration and identify the pollen grains as carriers of Prune dwarf virus contamination to clean orchards (through the pollinating honeybees). We have also investigated the genetic diversity existing in Portuguese almond collections (using general molecular markers and targetting the self-(in)compatibility alleles). By studying the self-(in)compatibility mechanisms we could develop specific markers to identify the incompatibility groups (crucial since almond self-incompatibility is 100%, and there are only a few self-fertile varieties). We also contributed to uncovering the regulatory genes involved in almond flower induction and development and in understanding the environmental role in these processes. All these works were published and presented in national and international scientific events with a high impact in the scientific community studying nut crops (we have 30 papers on almond research indexed at Scopus).

• Before 2000, we also started studies in other plant species relevant to Portugal, rice and maritime pine, within national and international collaborations. We have searched and obtained funding to investigate many different subjects that extended from the regulation of flower development to the production of secondary metabolites and more recently to the mechanisms that allow different plant types to cope with environmental stress.

Our efforts and interest in rice and our initial breeding work using marker-assisted selection motivated the recovery of the old “Centro de Orizicultura”, and in 2004 INIAV succeeded in raising COTArroz (Centro Operativo e Tecnológico do Arroz). Under INIAV supervision, COTArroz has incorporated the rice breeding lines we developed at ITQB and expanded the breeding program to a national level.

• Along with our research and within numerous national and international collaborations, we have searched and obtained funding to investigate many different subjects. This extended from the regulation of flower development to the production of secondary metabolites and more recently to the mechanisms that allow different plant types to cope with environmental stress. 

We have also invested a lot in providing scientifically-valid data about genetically-engineered crops to fight public misinformation, which was possible through projects awarded to the Ph.D. student Rita Batista, a scientist from the National Institute for Health (INSA) with whom we still keep collaborating.

From 2000 to the present:

• In 2003 and 2007 the welcomed two Post-Doc researchers, Nelson Saibo and Isabel Abreu, respectively. The group evolved significantly on new areas of research, from the gene expression regulation by transcription factors to the post-translational modifications that modulate plant-environment interactions. Both these scientists have become PIs at ITQB NOVA, initiating two new Labs and GPlantS became a Unit
• The GPlantS Unit is now constituted by three labs (Oliveira´s Lab, Abreu´s Lab, and Saibo's Lab), sharing space and resources and closely collaborating.
• GPlantS focus is to understand how different plants perceive and interact with the environment and what makes some of them more efficient than others. We aim to use this knowledge to improve stress tolerance and plant performance in crops and make better use of the available resources to achieve improved and safer products (food /feed and forest-based).